Costa Mesa-based body armor maker Ceradyne Inc. said Tuesday it would save on manufacturing costs by closing a plant in France.
The move will eliminate 95 jobs by the end of the year with the work being transferred to Germany, the company said in a release.
Ceradyne expects to take pretax charges of $11 million to $13 million from the plant closure in the current quarter.
The company makes bulletproof vests for ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It? been looking to expand into the solar energy industry, as orders from the military have tapered.
The company already has cut its workforce by 33%, or 592 jobs, mostly in its bulletproof vest operations in California and Kentucky.
About 40 were laid off from its headquarters operation. Another 70 were to be let go from its Irvine operation by the end of the month.
Its first-quarter sales came in at $99.8 million, down 47% from a year earlier.
The company said it? looking for sales of $465 million to $500 million for 2009, with a ?igher probability?of them being at the lower end.
It expects full year earnings of $42 million to $52 million, down about 60% from a year earlier.
In March, it received its first order for its next generation vests, the XSAPI, with the Pentagon for $77 million.
